Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ) is to decide Thursday whether former President Joao Goulart's family is able to sue the U.S. government for involvement in the 1964 military coup, which deposed Goulart.
The president's widow, Maria Thereza Fontella Goulart, and their children, Joao Vicente Fontella Goulart and Denise Fontella Goulart, requested indemnities based on charges of damage to the family's patrimony, image and morality, allegedly caused by the U.S. government's participation in the episode.
They argued that, following the coup, they were persecuted by the military and faced financial difficulties, and they were constantly threatened by murder, bombing and kidnapping.
They said the U.S. government financially supported Brazilian Congress candidates that were opposed to Goulart, and provided logistics and military back-up to the forces that waged the coup.
The Goulart family pointed out that there is no international law establishing that a foreign state is immune to responsibility over illicit acts it may commit in another state's territory.
However, a court judge in Rio de Janeiro declared the case "extinguished" due to its "juridical impossibility." The Goularts appealed to a federal court, which considered that the matter could only be judged by the STJ.
Source: Xinhua
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